On October 26, I facilitated a workshop to help Chinese companies learn from Microsoft on how to run a global enterprise. Over 20 companies from Shenzhen in the Global Enterprise Workshop Program visited Microsoft Headquarter in Redmond. This is part of the one-week event organized by Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation (SFIEC), and Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC).

Many Chinese companies are inspired to become a global enterprise as they grow and become to do business with customers and partners outside of China. They often started with openning an office oversea for sales or business development, then gradually adding more functions. However, globalization does not simply mean you set up an office in another country, it is how you understand other cultures, how to adapt to other cultures and ways of doing business, and how you do business in a way with customers/partners in a different culture. It also needs to consider how to structure, manager and operate internationally.

The delegation from China was leaded by Mr. Ma Weihua, Chairman, National Fund for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (NFTTC), and former CEO of China Merchants Bank. The workshop participants are CEOs from large companies in China, Diana Yao, Director for Microsoft Worldwide Sales Strategy, shared her learnings about Chinese companies go global, through her many years experience working in Chinese and Multinational companies. Sanket Akerkar, Microsoft Vice President of Global Enterprise shared with participants on Microsoft’s strategies in market prioritization for product R&D and marketing investment, worldside sales operations, how Microsoft structures its resources to manage and cover global customers, how Microsoft manage and evaluate its accounts, and Microsoft’s view of future opportunities, especially with the trends happening in the market.

I was very honored to be invited as a speaker by the US Embassy and delivered a series of speeches and workshops in China in September. The audience were government officials, entrepreneurs, professionals and college students. Below is one of the Q&A session posts in the US Embassy Beijing social media site after a public speech.